Let’s say that your organization has clear organizational priorities for which you, the development director, are leading a major campaign effort. You have a stellar case for support and a list of qualified, supportive prospects. You also have a handful of passionate volunteers who truly want to build their fundraising experience, which will help you make better connections to prospects and more powerful solicitations. You are well-positioned for a successful campaign, right?

Sometimes it’s not the big things, like access to an important donor, that trip us up, but the unexpected details like scheduling an actual meeting with that donor.  For example, what do you do when Board Member Bill – the best person to accompany you on a visit with Doris the Donor – is out of town when Doris is available, and Doris isn’t available when Bill is?

Donors and volunteers are busy, and scheduling can be a stumbling block to your campaign efforts. When do you say, “Enough, I’m going alone or with my ED on this call”? When do you say, “Nevermind our benchmark; let’s wait until next spring when this donor returns and can meet with us in person”?

A few suggestions culled from my own experiences:

• When appropriate for the prospect, use email to schedule meetings. Response rates seem to be higher and quicker than from leaving voice mails, and people typically have easy access to their calendars.
• Identify those prospects whose affinity for your cause is greater than their relationships to your leadership. Are they long-term donors? Have they made large gifts in the past? Are they comfortable with key staff? If so, move ahead with meetings based on their schedules even if volunteers cannot attend.
• Identify those prospects whose relationships to key individuals appear to be stronger than their affinity for your cause. These are folks you should wait to approach for a gift until the key players can meet together.
• If you have a few staff members who are trained to make solicitation calls, let the volunteer work out the meeting time with the donor prospect and then confirm which staff member will accompany your volunteer.
• Look for other opportunities like donor events, thank-you phone calls to major donors, or strategic plan interviews to build volunteers’ relationships with donors.

What has worked for you? Do you have rules for handling the complexities of scheduling key meetings? Share your tips with us.

Finally, if you are looking for a resource to explain major gifts fundraising to volunteers, check out Kim Klein’s article, Getting Major Gifts:  http://www.tgci.com/magazine/Getting%20Major%20Gifts.pdf

Filed under: Campaigns, Donor Relations by Natalie Lamberjack on August 18, 2009